Increase in recreation activities is "damaging" the New Forest

Research reveals that the new forest have a large amount of illegal activity taking place.

The New Forest Association (NFA) have reported in a survey that they saw 2,700 breaches of bylaws over a six-week-period last year.

This included over 1000 reports of litter and dog mess, 550 reports of cyclists away from designated tracks, over 600 cases of car related breaches, over 200 cases of livestock related issues and multiple reports of drone flying, wild camping, open fires/BBQs, and fly-tipping.

Gale Pettifer, Vice Chairman of the New Forest Association, expressed that the public are not educated on the rules. “We want people to come to the forest because it’s such a special place for wildlife. We don’t want people coming to the forest because it’s the only place they can come if they want to kick a ball, fly a kite or have a picnic or any other activities that aren’t conducive to wildlife and natural landscapes.”

The New Forest Park Authority (NPA) insist that the activities taking place are a minority in relation to the number of visitors they welcome. Steve Avery, their Executive Director said: “Most people behave responsibly but we recognise that there are a minority who through their thoughtless actions can harm the local landscape and wildlife.”

They claimed in a statement that they know ‘New Forest bylaws need updating, and welcome evidence such as that collected by the New Forest Association which is helpful in supporting this case’.

Anthony Climpson OBE, the Chief Executive from Go Forest, also said that the numbers appear to be high but not alarming. “The numbers are very large and significant in terms of the instances of abuse, but they are still very small in comparison to the number of visitors and users of the forest.

“However, that doesn’t mean that the scale of abuse is acceptable, it isn’t. But that’s why it’s important that the organisations who have responsibility for managing the New Forest take action to deal with it before it becomes completely and utterly out of hand.”

Last March the NPA released their revised New Forest code which outlined the bylaws.

Climpson claimed: “I think the plan is working to the extent that any person who wishes to comply is given information, which allows them to behave in the appropriate fashion for that particular location. The big problem is those that are not wanting to comply, or who just want to do what they feel they want to do. There are all sorts of abuses going on in the forest, which unfortunately, are not being adequately dealt with, in terms of reducing those instances by taking some action to enforce the bylaws which are already in place.”

Climpson believes that part of the solution lies in enforcing the rules: “We need to enforce the bylaws, there needs to be a clear statement of intent that this behaviour is unacceptable. If you continue to abuse the forest, you will be financially punished for doing so.”

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